Splendour in the Grass 2022 - Festival Edition - 20th Anniversary by JWT Publishing

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FESTIVAL EDITION

SAM HALES The Jungle Giants 300+ PHOTOS

THE BEST OF SPLENDOUR

20 YEARS OF MUSIC 2001-2022

PLENDOUR IN THE GRASS 2022

COVER IMAGE Charlie Hardy

WWW.SPLENDOURINTHEGRASS.COM

We respectfully acknowledge the original and traditional custodians of this land, Minjungbal Country and the wider Bundjalung Nation, on which our Festival takes place. We further acknowledge, thank and pay our respects to the traditional custodians of the multitude of Indigenous Nations across Australia. Always was, always will be.

July 2022

Welcome To Country

Mirrigingi Dancers

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

The origin story of the Minyungal concerns the legend of three brothers, each of whom established one of the tribes of the area. It tells of the arrival to this part of the eastern Australian coastline by 3 men/mythical culture heroes (Berrug, Mommom and Yaburong)and their wives and children in a canoe.

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Long ago, Berrug together with Mommom (and) Yaburong came to this land. They came with their wives and children in a great canoe, from an island across the sea. As they came near the shore, a woman on the land made a song that raised a storm which broke the canoe in pieces, but all the occupants, after battling with the waves, managed to swim ashore. This is how 'the men' the paigal black race, came to this land.The pieces of the canoe are to be seen to this day. If any one will throw a stone and strike a piece of the canoe, a storm will arise, and the voices of Berrug and his boys will be heard calling to one another, amidst the roaring elements. The pieces of the canoe are certain rocks in the sea. At Ballina, Berrug looked around and said, nyug? and all the paigal about there say nyuġ to the present day. On the Tweed he said, gando? (ngahndu)and the Tweed paigal say gando to the present day. This is how the blacks came to have different dialects. Berrug and his brothers came back to the Brunswick River, where he made a fire, and showed the paigal how to make fire. He taught them their laws about the kippara, and about marriage and food. After a time, a quarrel arose, and the brothers fought and separated, Mommom going south, Yaburong west, and Berrug keeping along the coast. This is how the paiġål were separated into tribes.

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July 2022

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

The Bundjalung Nation has a rich landscape of fertile soils, water sources and places that hold significance to family and kinship groups and also our Nation as a whole. If you have ever visited Bundjalung, you will have most likely fallen in love with our Country.

Mirrigingi Dancers Splendour in the Grass is proud to bring you a festivalwide Welcome to Country presented by our Traditional Owners of Minjungbal Country, the land where we will all gather for the event. The official Welcome can only be shared by bloodline to Country representatives and is a very ancient and traditional protocol to ensure the safety of all people at the festival. This is an opportunity for all visitors to pause and take a moment to connect to the land we are gathered on and pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging. Mirrigingi Ngari, are Minyungbal dance group that bring years of experience showcasing Minyungbal way of life through storytelling, dance, language, and culture. Grounded in protocol, Mirrigingi Nari maintain their cultural obligation through the continuance of Minyungbal cultural practice. “Mirri” is our word for life, gingi means “to be this way”.

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July 2022

Photographer: Claudia Ciapoccha

The spirit of resilience is alive and well That's a wrap! Splendour In The Grass was certainly eventful this year -- from shock cancellations to stunning live performances, these were the highs and lows from Australia's biggest winter music festival. It was supposed to be Splendour's glorious comeback after three COVIDimpacted no-shows, but Mother Nature had other plans. Ticket-holders and organisers alike tried to make the most of very tough conditions and the worst weather in the festival's 20-year history,

resulting in a shock cancellation of Friday's main stage artists. But everyone bounced back in good spirits on Day 2 with the attitude of "you gotta make lemonade outta mud". Yes, there were challenges - Splendour apologised for chaotic bus delays, while overcoming safety concerns and staff shortages - but against all odds, live music persevered and golden memories were made. Al Newstead

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July 2022

Photographer: Charlie Hardy

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July 2022

Photographer: Charlie Hardy

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July 2022

Photographer: Dave Kan

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July 2022

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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July 2022

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Photographer: Dave Kan

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July 2022 After three years of announcements and postponements we finally returned to North Byron Parklands this weekend for #SITG2022. There were highs, there were lows and there was definitely a whole lot of mud. It was complicated, but it was also an important moment for Australia’s live music industry as it moves out of the pandemic that has crippled the sector since early 2020. While we didn’t get to Gorillaz on Friday The Strokes brought the festival vibes on Saturday night as only they can. And Sunday night, Tyler, The Creator mesmerised a packed Amphitheatre with a stunning set (that even featured his own BYO grass) under the huge “Splendour in the Mud” banner. We are so thankful to all our artists who brought North Byron Parklands back to life once again. “We apologise for any inconvenience you may have experienced at our 20th Splendour. It certainly wasn’t our easiest show but even with the trials and tribulations we are so happy to be back with our Splendour family of patrons, our awesome event team, and our Australian music industry colleagues. As always, we really did try to provide the best experience possible under some extremely tricky conditions. The sheer collective spirit lifted us out of the mud and put music back on our stages where it hasn’t been for years. We thank all the patrons that held onto their tickets for so long. We also acknowledge all the first-time festival goers and those who hadn’t experienced a rain effected event before, we understand it was a lot for you. We have the best festival team in the country and we did everything we could considering the circumstances. We have consulted the weather gods and they tell us it will be great in 2023.” - CoCEO’s Jessica Ducrou and Paul Piticco. Moshtix will be in touch with ticket holders in the coming days with regards to proportionate refunds for Friday. Full refunds for Friday GA and VIP event tickets, Friday bus tickets, Friday day parking will be processed back to the original card used to purchase. Proportionate refunds of $133 for GA Event tickets, and $199 for VIP Village will be processed in the coming weeks. This is processed via a bank transfer and Moshtix will be in touch with the details shortly. We appreciate your patience while they work through these refunds. www.splendour.com.au

July 2022

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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July 2022

PUP

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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The Lazy Eyes

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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The Chats

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Pink Matter

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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Noah Dillon

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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The Jungle Giants

Photographer: Charlie Hardy

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The Jungle Giants

Photographer: Charlie Hardy

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The Jungle Giants

Photographer: Charlie Hardy

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Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Budjerah

Photographer: Dave Kan

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Budjerah Photographer: jess Gleeson

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Tai Verdes

Photographer: Bianca Holderness Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Stevan

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Stella Donnelly

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Memphis LK (DJ)

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Biig Pig

Photographer: Jess Gleeson

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Oliver Tree

Photographer: Stephen Booth

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Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Stephen Booth

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Jpeg Mafia

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Ruby Fields

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Methyl Ethel

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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36 Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Violent Soho

Photographer: Charlie Hardy

Photographer: Stephen Booth

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Violent Soho

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Violent Soho

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

Photographer: Charlie Hardy

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Alice Ivy

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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The Strokes

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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July 2022

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Jack Harlow

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Jack Harlow

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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July 2022

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

Photographer: Bianca Holdernes

Glass Animals

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

Glass Animals Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Chillnit

Photographer: Dave Kan

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GLASS ANIMALS

Photographer: Dave Kan

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Tripleone

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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Dro Carey & DJ Scorpian

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Stephen Booth

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Stephen Booth

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Stephen Booth

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July 2022

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Dave Kan

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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July 2022

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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July 2022

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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a Holde

Bianc apher: hotogr

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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July 2022

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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July 2022

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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July 2022

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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July 2022

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Andy Golledge

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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King Stingray

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Mo'ju

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Julia Stone Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Photographer: Jess Gleeson

Holly Humberstone

JK-47

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Elsy Wameyo

Photographer: Dave Kan

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Gensis

Photographer: Jess Gleeson

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Day Glow

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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G-Flip

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Bianca Holderness Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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G-Flip

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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G-Flip

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Duke Dumont

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Parquet Courts

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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Sycco

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Grinspoon

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

Photographer: Dave Kan

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Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

Photographer: Dave Kan Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Grinspoon

Photographer: Dave Kan

Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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The Soul Movers

Photographer: Dave Kan

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Big Twisty & The Funkynasty

Photographer: Dave Kan

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Photographer: Dave Kan

The Snuts

Photographer: Dave Kan

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Pond

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Amyl and The Sniffers

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

Liam Gallaghar

Photographer: Stephen Booth

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Photographer: Ian Laidlaw

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Tyler The Creator

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Tyler The Creator

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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July 2022

Photographer: Jess Gleeson

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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July 2022

Photographer: Jess Gleeson

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July 2022

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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July 2022

My first Splendour and we had a ball. Tyler the Creator was excellent so worth the wait. Buses home were good. Only waited in line an hour but they moved well. We loved the whole experience even all the mud.

Janette

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Nathan Tallon

G-Flip Shoey

Nathan Tallon

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July 2022

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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July 2022

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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July 2022

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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July 2022 Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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July 2022

Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

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July 2022

Photographer: Dave Kan

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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GOLD BAR

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

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July 2022

Photographer: Claudia Ciapocha

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

Photographer: Bianca Holderness Photographer: Miranda Stokkel

Photographer: Bianca Holderness

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101 Photographer: Bianca Holderness

July 2022

2021 - 2022

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Splendour Celebrating 20 Years #SITG2022

Splendour in the Grass Music & Arts Festival today celebrated their largest onsale in the event's history, with punters snapping up all available tickets within an hour of release. With an increased venue capacity of 50,000, today's effort is a monumental milestone from the 12,500 tickets sold for the festival's first-ever edition in 2001. The 20th edition of the iconic festival packs a punch with festival veterans The Strokes and Flume returning to take center stage, along with Tyler, the Creator, who is set to bring his Grammy Award-winning album to life in Byron. In addition, fans will be treated to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Midnight Oil (The Makarratta Project), Denzel Curry and many more, making this one of the festival's most spectacular lineups.

Saturday, July 21, 2001 Belongil Fields, Byron Bay 2 Dogs 28 Days DJ Ransom Frenzal Rhomb GT King Kapisi Magic Dirt Michael Franti & Spearhead Pnau Powderfinger Resin Dogs Something for Kate Squarepusher Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Sunk Loto Superheist George

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By Al Newstead Image: Photo: supplied; Design: Katherine Brickman/triple j

One of the industry’s most powerful duos, their partnership was forged long before Splendour’s 2001 debut. The pair met in a Byron pub in the ‘90s, and Jess became the booking agent for the band Paul was managing – some up-and-comers called Powderfinger. Decades of shaking and moving later, they are the duo behind not only Splendour, but Secret Sounds, an Australian live music force responsible for Falls Festival, Download, and countless tours. They’re a powerful team. If Paul is the smooth-talking charmer, Jess is the do-er, capable of putting the wheels the former has greased into motion. Their business is transforming backstage handshakes into inked contracts, and bringing your live music fantasies to life year in, year out. www.splendour.com.au

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The best performances… For self-described “massive Smashing Pumpkins fanboy” Paul, the band’s 2012 set ranks high. Even though Billy Corgan “cut my favourite song out of the set because we cut his set time a little short.” Band of Horses in 2008 is another favourite, but Kanye West’s headlining show in 2011 holds a special place. “Jess and I were talking about this earlier. It’s the only time I’ve ever erupted into dance watching a show," he says. "That doesn’t happen very often.”

Smashing Pumpkins LCD Soundsystem

"One of the best performances I’ve seen. Full stop. There’s a lot to be said about Kanye [but] in that place at that time, he was absolutely at his best." For Jess, it was having a boogie to a reunited LCD Soundsystem in 2017, and TV On The Radio’s 2006 set was “f**king shit hot. Loved, loved, loved it.” And Childish Gambino’s performance last year, was “another festival highlight.”

Kanye

As a fan, she feels “very lucky” for every Splendour showing from The Strokes. “Ultimately being huge music fans and having the opportunity to be able to throw a few of your favourite acts in each year’s line-up is a pretty privileged position.” “But you know so many greats,” she notes. “So many shit performances, too!”

Childish Gambino

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The worst performances… Ryan Adams in 2005 sticks out for both Paul and Jess. “Do you remember, Ticcs? He was so pissed off and having such a hard time with his on-stage sound that he played the set with his back to the audience,” Jess recalls. “I was there,” Paul confirms. “It was a trainwreck.” Richard Ashcroft in 2010 was another corker. The Verve frontman cut his set after just one song. Ashcroft's manager would later insist the singer's vocal problems were to blame for the aborted set, but Paul believes he was frustrated that crowds were flocking instead to see Pixies and Empire of the Sun. “It challenged the attendance, let’s just say,” Paul remembers. “I didn’t witness this, but I heard he was obviously in a very foul mood about that a photographer in the pit rubbed him up the wrong way and I believe he stormed off the stage in pursuit of the photographer and that was the end of the show!”

Ryan Adams

Richard Ashcroft Splendour 2012

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On Chance The Rapper’s 11th hour cancellation... Splendour have managed to avert many crises without the audience ever having the slightest idea, but sometimes, things just don’t go to plan. “It’s part and parcel of the business,” Paul reflects. “We know with some certainty every year, someone will cancel. You can’t coordinate 100 acts without one of them not appearing. You obviously hope it’s one that’s not higher up the bill… but it happens. It happens all the time. It’s never very easy to deal with.” In 2019, Chance The Rapper pulled out of his headlining Sunday night set. Paul found out the Saturday morning on his drive into the festival site. "I had my day planned out; everything was just smooth. My phone rings, I look down and I see a name… it’s Chance’s booking agent. I immediately did the calculation of what time of the morning it was where they were… I just had this instantaneous bad feeling way before I even answered it." Sure enough, it was bad news. Chance wasn't coming. It was a shock, especially given the rapper’s gear had been shipped over in advance while members of his team were already milling around the Parklands. “What do you mean!? Everyone’s here, it’s all happening,” Paul recalls. “The plane is on the tarmac and he won’t leave his house. He’s not coming. He’s too ill to fly.”

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July 2022 Luckily, Hilltop Hoods stepped up to fill in “and did so with aplomb,” reckons Paul. “But [a cancellation like that] is a day-ruiner. You’re in a whole world of reorganising things, making calls, negotiating with bands... Jess is approving press releases and statements. It’s a huge spanner.” “But more common than not, which is really exhausting,” Jess adds. “I feel like the last handful of years especially. Maybe there’s less accountability? I’m not really sure but it does feel like we’ve dealt with quite a lot of line-up changes. That’s not just us - it happens with all festivals.” They emphasise the proximity problem as well. Australia’s geographical distance from the rest of the touring world is “really challenging.” “We’re not in Europe where there’s a bazillion other countries to play at arm’s length,” Jess explains. “It’s an incredible commitment to get artists, particularly big artists, down to our part of the world. And often for one show.” “Coldplay and Kanye when they played [in 2011], they came for one show. Chance was coming for one show. That is often the situation we’re in… they’re flying in a private jet and then in their special private limos [to play]. Come in for an hour or two to play then get out.”

Hill Top Hoods

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The time Lorde filled in for Frank Ocean… It’s a Splendour story everyone returns to. Not just because Frank Ocean - one of the hottest properties in the world when he was set to play the festival in 2013 – was a no-show, but because Splendour turned it around and got Lorde to replace him last-minute; a defining turning point in her career. We’ve heard Lorde’s side of it. But what about Frank, what happened? “That’s a long story that starts with his booking,” Jess says. “As we try to, we spotted Frank’s talent much earlier than his career had developed so we booked him at a reasonable price,” Paul reveals. “And a day, maybe two days before our announce, the call came that they’d run the budgets and it just wasn’t going to work. They needed extra. There was – let’s call it a renegotiation of the fee, I’ll be polite, I won’t say shakedown,” he laughs. “Anyway, that really set the tone.” Ocean did make it to Australia. A frail-looking Frank performed at Festival Hall in Melbourne (his only Australian show to date) - “but I think he just flew out of the country the next day after that Melbourne show,” Paul says. “We were expecting him and his crew to arrive in the Gold Coast to come to Byron, and they just didn’t. Then the phone rang and the agent said ‘He’s not coming, he’s ill’, which was fine, he was genuinely sick. Then we had to scramble.” After some fevered negotiations – including permission from Laneway Festival, who’d exclusively booked the New Zealand star-on-the-rise earlier that year – it all came together and Lorde “saved the day,” says Paul.

Lorde

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July 2022 “It was a stellar performance. A ‘were you there’ moment… a sliding doors moment. Something was lost and something was found all in the same day for us.” Have they chased Frank Ocean to play Splendour since? Well… “It took us a few years to get over it because there’s an appendix to that story,” Paul discloses. “We paid a hefty deposit and Frank… put it this way, it took a while to get our deposit back. There was quite an angry agent that we had to deal with. The Frank experience went on for many weeks beyond Splendour.” “It’s a chapter in a book,” Jess adds. “But we have asked. The thing with Frank is when he does play, he’s incredible. I think his reputation precedes him, the problem is he’s not particularly reliable. That’s a challenge.” “There’s so many festival producers that would book him but they need an artist that will turn up. For us, because we’ve had a cancellation with him, we would want to see some consistency out there before we took that risk again. I think we owe that to our audience to make sure that we book responsibly.”

Can't stop, won't stop. Backstage at Splendour 2004 Image: supplied

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What’s been the best year? Jess and Paul are unanimous that it’s the 2010 line-up, featuring headliners that saw the pair ticking off boxes on their bucket list. “20 years ago, we probably started with an unofficial wish list,” Paul explains. “We got two that year: The Strokes and Pixies. Big job satisfaction that year, and we were on a new site and our biggest show to date at that time. It was great times.” “Line-ups don’t necessarily come together very easily but pretty much everything that we put in requests for came to fruition,” Jess says. “A really, really great line-up. A lot of those acts, like Mumford & Sons and Florence + The Machine, who weren’t necessarily at their peak then have gone on to become tent pole headliners.” Paul likened Mumford and Florence to having their “Lorde moment… That realisation by audiences and the Australian market that they were going to be massive acts because they’d never really been seen to perform on that scale before here.” Both were also really excited about what would’ve been the 2020 line-up – an alternate timeline where we’d be partying this weekend with Flume, The Strokes, and Tyler, the Creator. “But I’m excited now that Gorillaz have joined the show,” Jess notes. “Look forward to that in 2022.”

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The Azealia Banks saga… In 2012, one of Splendour’s most highly anticipated acts only performed for 22 minutes. Turns out, the problems with Azealia Banks started long before she departed the stage. “The whole process with her was a shitfight,” Jess reveals. “We loved ‘212’ and thought she was amazing and booked her. She was a pretty expensive booking.” "But an hour, hour-and-a-half before triple j are about to announce our line-up, we get a call from her agent: ‘Guys, you’ve got to pull her off the artwork. She’s not coming to Australia’.” “I was like, what the f**k!?" Splendour's entire 2012 launch campaign, every video and artwork, was based around Azealia's hit song. "You end up in these desperate conversations about how you can salvage this performance. We ended up having to pay double her fee to get her to come and play, to commit. And when she did come she came and played for 22 mins!” Jess and Paul give a hearty laugh remembering it all. “Paul and I have a pretty good sense of humour. It’s a pretty shit job sometimes.” “You can’t get caught up in those details,” Paul adds. “You can’t take that stuff personally. There’s a lot of people and personalities to manage when you’re booking 100 acts. Agents, artists, managers, and so on. We understand that it’s complicated.”

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Who’s on the Splendour In The Grass bucket list? Even with 20 years of notches in their belt, there’s still some acts that remain elusive bookings. “We chip away at it, every year we hopefully cross one or two off,” Paul says. “And hopefully some of them will still be alive,” Jess jokes. Her “total white whale” is Fleetwood Mac. “I will potentially resign after they play. They need to play the festival at some point.” “Jess and I have often debated and fantasised about trying to reform Talking Heads for a Splendour headline,” Paul reveals. “But I’m not sure Dave [Byrne] and Jerry [Harrison] get on that well from what I hear.” He laughs, “live in hope, though.” Radiohead fans will be somewhat delighted to learn there’s “a standing offer with no date on it. Radiohead could confirm any old time, it’s just a rolling offer. Those enquiries go out every year.” And of course, the reformed Rage Against The Machine. “Like everyone, desperate to have them,” Jess declares. “We get requests like ‘Why haven’t you got Arctic Monkeys! Why haven’t you got Radiohead! What about Rage Against The Machine!?’ Everyone that anyone is asking about, I can guarantee you that we’ve already asked them. “To our geography, to the fact that we’re running in the Northern hemisphere’s summer, so there’s a lot of competition to get people down our way. It is really, really hard. Paul and I are often on calls to all hours of the night trying to secure talent to play the show. It’s not an easy job and it doesn’t come together easily. It’s just a lot of grit and determination.” Backstage at Splendour 2015

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Headliners aren’t born, they are made… Ever since the inaugural 2001 Splendour was topped by Powderfinger (at the peak of their Odyssey No. 5 powers), the festival has remained a launching pad for Australian artists, cultivating artists as they develop from openers into headliners. “Flume is a great example,” says Paul. The super-producer made his Splendour debut in 2012, as the second act of the day in the Mix Up Tent. The following year, he closed that same stage, and in 2016, headlined the Amphitheatre with an all-star cast. “That’s very satisfying as a promoter watching that process happen.” Tones And I is another case in point. The 2019 triple j Unearthed comp winner pulled the biggest crowd of any we’ve ever seen open the fest, an achievement that came two years after attending Splendour as a punter. “She was sitting on the hill watching, going ‘I want to be up there one day’,” Paul notes. “That’s the other progression, watching people going from one side of the barricade to the other.” “The backbone of the festival is Australian talent. It’s what we book predominantly, it’s what we find the audience seems to comment on more frequently." "Sure, there’s special attention given to international acts because of the scarcity or rarity of their appearance in the country. But the core of what Splendour is revolves around Australian music. It’s always – and will I hope remain so forever – a place where Australian bands can go from literally their garage to headlining a main stage.”

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It’s not the most glamorous gig in the world… Looking back with the expertise they have now, what one piece of advice would Jess and Paul give to their younger selves of 20 years ago? “Get an education,” Jess deadpans. “Honestly, it’s stressful. I often say that to myself in those crazy moments, where Frank Ocean’s on a plane back home instead of up to our festival, surely there’s got to be an easier way to make a living?” “For kids at home thinking it’s a glamorous job, it’s not,” agrees Paul, remembering the many times he and Jess have had to roll up their sleeves and start “directing cars and traffic in the pouring rain.” “That’s when you know the show’s gone to shit,” says Jess. “Is when there’s a call like ‘get your fluoro on because it’s a disaster out there’. It happens every three years I’d say, we’re out in the carpark eating meat pies in the rain.”

Splendour in the Grass 2004-2005 Memorable Year's

But for all those lows, there’s also the highs. “It’s high-pressure, high-risk. There’s a lot to be said about it in the negative sense but I wouldn’t change a thing. And I think Jess probably wouldn’t have either,” says Paul. “While I say it’s tough, it’s a lot more fun with someone like Paul,” Jess beams. “We have really good fun doing what we do with each other. Some f**king hilarious moments. That carries you through. It’s also for us, a part of our journey together and creating this has been part of the trip.” “We’ve had a cracking time, we love our jobs,” Paul concludes. “Like everyone’s jobs, they’re not ideal but the feeling I get when I see 50,000 people bouncing up and down, or you look at their faces and you can tell they’re having a massive life moment. That doesn’t wash away too fast.”

Behind The Splendour: a history of highs and lows with the festival co-founders - Music News - triple j (abc.net.au)

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Photographer: Dave Kan

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